Tameka Baba

Garden Club of America | Prince Charitable Trusts Rome Prize
September 1, 2025–June 26, 2026
Profession
Professional Practice Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture Section, Knowlton School, Ohio State University
Project title
Urban Tapestry: Exploring Soft Density in Rome’s Public Spaces
Project description

Rome’s piazzas have long served as vibrant hubs of cultural exchange, shaping the rhythm of urban life. Yet, their enduring permanence often overlooks the region’s rich ecological diversity, raising questions about their adaptability in a warming climate. How might weaving be employed both as a metaphor and a method to introduce traditional elements from Italian Renaissance gardens, cultivating a “soft density” of vegetation in urban settings? Urban Tapestry examines how composition, symbolism, and narrative can address challenges related to climate adaptation, comfort, and social interaction. Piazza del Popolo serves as the focal point of this study, beginning with a photographic catalog that maps the piazza’s current functions and evolving into speculative woven studies that reimagine the space as a resilient, scenographic, and socially engaging landscape.